Nimisha Priya Timeline: Went To Yemen To Earn Living, May Have To Pay To Get Life Back

Last Updated:July 16, 2025, 20:12 IST

Nimisha Priya Timeline: The Kerala nurse was to be executed for the murder of her business partner on Wednesday, but it has been deferred for now

Nimisha Priya is lodged in a jail in Sana'a in Yemen.

From question of livelihood to life, Nimisha Priya’s journey as a nurse from Kerala to Yemen has taken the most unusual turn.

The execution of Nimisha Priya, who has been convicted for murder of her business partner, was to happen on Wednesday, but has been deferred for now. The government and others, including Grand Mufti of India , are trying to negotiate a deal, one of the clauses of which could be payment of blood money amounting to Rs 8.5 crore.

A look at how the 38-year-old went from Kerala to the jail in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital city that is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis.

Nimisha Priya’s Timeline: Kerala Nurse, A Yemen Clinic To Death Row

2008: Priya, who hails from Kollengode in Pallakad, then around 20, moves to Yemen to work as a nurse, a common trend among professionals from Kerala.

2011: She gets married to Tomy Thomas, a fellow Malayali. The daughter is now a college student. While Tomy and the daughter later move back to India, reportedly due to financial constraints, Priya stays back. After the Arab Spring, Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule over Yemen ends as he handed over power to deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

EXPLAINED: Did Grand Mufti Help Defer Kerala Nurse Nimisha Priya’s Execution? Who Is Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad?

2015: By the end of 2014, the Houthi rebel group takes over Sana’a. India does not have formal diplomatic relations with this group. In line with the US, India recognises the Aden-headquartered Presidential Leadership Council as Yemen’s government. Around this time, Priya opens a clinic in Sana’a in partnership with local businessman Talal Abdo Mehdi as required by local rules.

2016: Priya reports harassment and document seizure by Mehdi, but reportedly does not receive police help. Her passport is withheld by Mehdi and he allegedly abuses her.

2017: Priya attempts to recover her passport by sedating Mehdi, but he dies of what is cited as overdose, according to authorities. His dismembered and disposed of body is found in a water tank. Priya is arrested near the Yemen-Saudi border while trying to flee.

2018: Priya is convicted of murder by a local trial court and given the death sentence. She did not get adequate legal assistance, say reports.

2020: Her death sentence is upheld by a higher court. The =Malayali Indian diaspora forms ‘Save Nimisha Priya Action Council’ to save her.

2023: Priya’s final appeal against the death sentence is dismissed by Houthi Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council.

2024: Priya’s family negotiates with the victim’s family over blood money or diyah, a concept in Sharia, the Islamic law, that allows the victim’s family to pardon the killer in return for monetary compensation.

July 14, 2025: As the execution date of July 16 nears, the Indian government informs the Supreme Court that it had done whatever was “utmost possible" to save the Indian nurse from execution. It also informs the top court that “nothing much" could be done keeping in view the status of Yemen. “There is a point up to which the Government of India can go and we have reached that point," attorney general R Venkataramani informs a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. Meanwhile, a staggering offer of $1 million (approximately Rs 8.5 crore) is reportedly made to Mehdi’s family by the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council.

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July 15: Amid negotiations, Muslim cleric Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar or Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, 94, who is revered as the ‘Grand Mufti of India’, says he spoke to scholars in Yemen, hours after which Priya’s execution is deferred. The new date is still to be announced.

July 16: Abdelfattah Mehdi, brother of Mehdi firmly rejects the possibility of a pardon for his brother’s killer.

Meanwhile, Priya and her family continue to hold on to hope.

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